James Gunn reinstated as director of ‘Guardians of the Galaxy 3’

James Gunn has been reinstated as the director of the upcoming “Guardians of the Galaxy 3,” eight months after he was dismissed following the resurfacing of tweets joking about rape and pedophilia that had been shared years in the past.

A rep for the filmmaker confirmed Gunn’s reinstatement after it was initially reported by Deadline. Gunn met with Alan Horn, president of Walt Disney Studios, several times to speak about the matter before Horn opted to bring him back aboard.

Gunn directed the first two installments of the “Guardians of the Galaxy” franchise, which is part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Stars of the ensemble cast including Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel and Karen Gillan signed an open letter in support of Gunn following his firing last summer.

The tweets that led to Gunn’s ouster were predominantly reposted by a right-winger blogger in July 2018. The posts in question were shared to Gunn’s Twitter page several years before the first “Guardians of the Galaxy” movie premiered in 2014.

Gunn, 52, addressed the situation last year after his firing.

“Many people who have followed my career know when I started, I viewed myself as a provocateur, making movies and telling jokes that were outrageous and taboo,” he said at the time. “As I have discussed publicly many times, as I’ve developed as a person, so has my work and my humor,” he said. “In the past, I have apologized for humor of mine that hurt people. I truly felt sorry and meant every word of my apologies.”

In their open letter last year, the cast members of the “Guardians” movies said they looked forward to working with Gunn again one day.

“The character he has shown in the wake of his firing is consistent with the man he was every day on set, and his apology, now and from years ago when first addressing these remarks, we believe is from the heart, a heart we all know, trust and love,” the letter read.

Gunn signed on to direct “Suicide Squad 2” following his departure from “Guardians of the Galaxy 3.”

A release date for the third “Guardians” movie has not been announced.

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